Odette Cancer Program

Administrative Assistant: Elizabeth Alcon
Phone: 416-480-6100 ext. 64727
Fax: 416-480-5977
Email: elizabeth.alcon@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• MD, 1967, McGill University, Canada
• FRCPC, gastroenterology
• FRCPC, internal medicine

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Affiliate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Consultant and full-time staff, division of gastroenterology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Professor, department of medicine, division of gastroenterology, University of Toronto
• Consultant, familial gastrointestinal cancer clinic, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook

Research Focus:

• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis)
• Colorectal cancer prevention
• Use of email in chronic disease management

Research Summary:

Dr. Saibil's areas of clinical expertise include inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer prevention, transfer dysphagia and nutritional support. He is well known across Canada for his activities in education of the general public on medical topics via the media and through public lectures. His best-selling book, Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, available in many countries and online, was written for patients and their families, but has proven valuable to many physicians as well. The third edition (2011) includes a new chapter devoted to self-management strategies; a discussion of the hygiene hypothesis; effects of diet; advances in diagnostic testing, including use of capsule endoscopy, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scans; the latest information on drug treatments and other treatment options, including specialized liquid diets and probiotics.

Dr. Saibil's main research interests include the following:

• trials of new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
• self-management strategies for people with IBD; and
• the study of strategies for the prevention of colonic polyps and colorectal cancer.

His team participated in the most important clinical trials in IBD over the past 30 years and maintains an IBD database containing approximately 750 patients.

Dr. Saibil collaborated for many years with the Dartmouth group, based at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S. in the colon cancer prevention field.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.